[ADWD Spoilers] Favourite lines & scenes

[BoldAsYouPlease]

“A year later this same wench had the impudence to turn up at the Dreadfort with a squalling, red-faced monster that she claimed was my own get. I should’ve had the mother whipped and thrown her child down a well … but the babe did have my eyes."

Roose Bolton, describing the moment he met his son Ramsay. Absolutely hilarious, in a Hannibal Lecter sort of way. Sorry, I've mentioned these lines before, but that whole chapter with Roose Bolton makes me wish we'd had a lot more of him in this book.

[MinotaurWarrior]

Just some that haven't been brought up before:

Meera began to cry

Bran hated being crippled then. "Don't cry," he said. He wanted to put his arms around her, hold her tight the way his mother used to hold him back at Winterfell when he'd hurt himself. She was right there, only a few feet from him, but so far out of reach it might have been a hundred leagues... I could put on Hodor's skin, he thought. Hodor could hold her and pat her on the back. The thought made Bran feel strange, but he was still thinking it when Meera bolted from the fire, back out into the darkness of the tunnels.

This was bran's most pitiful moment, and it really struck me deep. I especially like how his sadness and feelings of helplessness tempt him to terrify Hodor, steal control of his body, and make him flee to that one corner of his mind where Bran can't touch him. It's just sad all around. I also liked all of the descriptions of Bran warging into Hodor. It just goes to show that not all evil is born of malice.

The moon was a crescent, thin and sharp as the blade of a knife

Did a really good job of communication the timelessness of the caverns / being a greenseer, and hinted at the process having some serious downsides (knives cut)

Wun Deg Wun Dar Wun

Every time Wun Wun was mentioned, I said his full name aloud. Of all the things GRRM has written, this is the most fun to say.

[redxavier]

There was one moment in the epilogue where I find myself smiling:

“An old black tomcat with a torn ear,” Cersei told him. “A filthy thing, and foul-tempered. He clawed Joff’s hand once.” She made a face. “The cats keep the rats down, I know, but that one … he’s been known to attack ravens in the rookery.”

Cersei at last being a genuinely good mother. She's awful to Tommen in AFFC and this is such a refreshing change of pace for her. Honestly, I hope it lasts.

[Chalky]

It's an odd one, but in Reek II when Ramsay's skinned the ironborn who held Moat Cailin (sp?) and he'd put the pardon in their mouths, it was so cruel and unneccessary that I really wanted him to die.

I thoroughly enjoyed Theon's chapters, and can't recall ever being as disgusted by a fictional character before. It got me totally enthralled.

[blu2penguin]

"Words are wind." - Everyone

[Gazz22]

"What name do you think they will give me, should I return to Dorne without Daenerys?" Prince Quentyn asked. "Quentyn the Cautious? Quentyn the Craven? Quentyn the Quail?"

The Prince Who Came Too Late, the old knight thought...but if a knight of the Kingsguard learns nothing else, he learns to guard his tongue. "Quentyn the Wise," he suggested. And hoped that it was true.

[Sand Snake No. 9]

Just that Bran could taste the blood just like the tree could. As far as I can tell they don't actually need blood to thrive, since the First Men haven't been sacrificing people since the Andals showed up.

BUT I might be wrong, since there seems to be a purpose to showing him this scene. And I don't think it's just to be all like "omg my ancestors were weird human-sacrificers" in some kind of disillusionment sense, as I don't see any characters romanticizing the First Men, anyway, it seems like it must have some purpose beyond just something made up by humans, so maybe there is some power to the human sacrifice to the Weirwoods that people have forgotten about in the years after the Andals invaded.

Blood magic is a major theme of these books, you see Maggy the Frog, Mirri Maz Duur, Melisandre using it, and there are other examples as well. Maybe the power of blood is what holds this world together?

In another thread someone suggested that the bearded man was Bran the Builder, and the sacrifice was meant to sanctify the site of Winterfell before its building. That's a very logical explanation.

[Bar Keep]

when Theon tells Asha

You have to know your name

[The Mountain That Glides]

Most of my favorites have been said, but I want to re-iterate the Asha/Theon one mentioned above. That was one of my favorite moments of the entire series, it was touching and heartbreaking. Asha didn't recognize him this time, and so he says, "See, this time I knew you." and then she says "Theon." and you can just picture him smiling a goofy, toothless grin as he realizes his name his Theon, and he goes, "Theon. My name is Theon. You have to know your name." I just...wow. I hated Theon sooooo much during aCoK, props Martin.

I also really enjoyed:

"Ned's little girl."

"The North Remembers"

"The kind that don't break and run if you fart in their general direction."

"We're fighting shrubbery!"

Davos, Victarion, and Tormund were walking piles of badass, as well.

[tozka]

“Words are wind, and the wind is always blowing at the Wall.”

[Eddison Tollet]

I saw the cut, but my boy was dead before I reached him. And Torwynd … it was the cold claimed him. Always sickly, that one. He just up and died one night. The worst o’ it, before we ever knew he’d died he rose pale with them blue eyes. Had to see to him m’self. That was hard, Jon.” Tears shone in his eyes. “He wasn’t much of a man, truth be told, but he’d been me little boy once, and I loved him.”

Jon put a hand on his shoulder. “I am so sorry.”

“Why? Weren’t your doing. There’s blood on your hands, aye, same as mine. But not his.”

Tormund is one my favorite minor characters. Tormund talking to Jon about the death of two of his sons, especially, when one rose as a wight and having to put him down was really poignant moment.

[King_In_The_North]

Roose: "Unchain him now, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother."

The Boltons are just... I can't.... They're like.... completely...

[Rindill]

Also, when Jon is asking Selyse for men to go rescue Hardhome. This exchange had me ROLLING, probably because the situation is so serious:

C'mon Jon, can you even smile a little?? It's a hilarious image. Patchface has great comic timing.

Patchface is creepy.

[The_TrueSteel]

Roose: "Unchain him now, before you make me rue the day I raped your mother."

The Boltons are just... I can't.... They're like.... completely...

FTW!

[Roose Bolton's Onesie]

Jon knew better than to press the point. "Sire, some claim that you mean to grant lands and castles to Rattleshirt and the Magnar of Thenn."

"Who told you that?"

The talk was all over Castle Black. "If you must know, I had the tale from Gilly."

"Who is Gilly?"

"The wet nurse," said Lady Melisandre. "Your Grace gave her freedom of the castle."

"Not for running tales. She's wanted for her teats, not for her tongue. I'll have more milk from her, and fewer messages."

The king was confused. "I thought the wetnurse was this man Craster's daughter?"

"Wife and daughter both, Your Grace. Craster married all his daughters. Gilly's boy was the fruit of their union."

"Her own father got this child on her?" Stannis sounded shocked. "We are well rid of her, then. I will not suffer such abominations here. This is not King's Landing."

Stannis had better still be alive!

[NymStark]

I was going through the Bran chapters and this made me tear up on the tube...Bran on his first glimpse of Leaf while in Hodor's body. "For a moment Bran thought it was his sister Arya...madly, for he knew his little sister was a thousand leagues away or dead. And yet there she was whirling, a scrawny thing,ragged, wild, her hair atangle. Tears filled Hodor's eyes and froze there."

Throughout the books you can see the Stark siblings(including Jon) longing for their home and for one another. Its so poignant. I hope GRRM allows these poor children some semblance of happiness in the end.

[Gnomestress]

There are too many!

My favorite is probably the scene where Ser Barristan explains how he "escaped" King's Landing by staying in it.

I also liked how Jon 'died'. Very Caesar-esque to me. It also reminded me of how Ned died. Both die after sacrificing honor to save the lives of family. Neither of them see it coming. Here's to hoping Jon stays dead. Not a big Jon fan here...

The scene where Tyrion quotes Bronn and says something like "A small man with a shield will drive archers crazy." It shows the strange friendship between the two persists (at least for Tyrion) even when they are half the world apart.

Theon meeting Asha. She thought SHE had it bad. She got away with a concussion, a broken ankle, and some frostbite.

Pretty much anything with Lord Manderly. I was lukewarm about him at first but MAN did he grow on me fast. He's like Tywin 2.0 with less evil and more subtlety...and chins.

[LordBloodraven]

If she pops out sons the way she pops in tarts, the Dreadfort will soon be overrun with Boltons. Ramsay will kill them all, of course. That’s for the best. I will not live long enough to see new sons to manhood, and boy lords are the bane of any House. Walda will grieve to see them die, though.

[Eaglewood]

If she pops out sons the way she pops in tarts, the Dreadfort will soon be overrun with Boltons. Ramsay will kill them all, of course. That’s for the best. I will not live long enough to see new sons to manhood, and boy lords are the bane of any House. Walda will grieve to see them die, though.

Seriously... Roose > Victorian, Ramsay, Gregor, Walder, Tywin for the crazy/evil win. Every time.

[Sarella Snow]

There are so many, but the one that was both hilarious and then poignant was when Asha gets lost in the camp and hears horses. She gears up for battle and out of the snow comes . . . a Braavosi banker. That made me laugh out loud.